Machine for operating upon soles



Sept. 29, 1931. c. J. MEEK 'MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON.SOLES Filed Jan. 29, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 29, 1931. I c. J. MEEK 1,824,962

. MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON SOLES Filed Jan. 29, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig? 3.

Patented Sept. 29, 1931 CARL. J'..1VIEEK,.- on -ST. LOUIS, msswm, AS SIGNOR '10- U ITED: snon ma -1mm con- I'ORrATION,.OE PATEnsonnEw JERSEY, A- oonronarron or: NEWJERSEY' MACHINE r03 oI nnATme- UPON; soLns Application fiIed January- QB,1929; Serial no; 335,351:

This invention relates to machines for op erating; upon soles. and: is illustratedas em-- bodied in an: insole.- slashing. machine of the typedisclosed' iiLUnited States LettersPatent;

* 5. No; 958;O29,1granted May 17,: 1910; upon. ap-

Pl'l'CfltiOI1=OfilV-.G. Stewart: I

The'inachinedisclosedzinthe Letters Patent refe-rred to. is-adaptedto make a plurality. of.

slashes extending -ti=ansversely' acr'ossjan in-i 1e solezin'thevicinity ot itsballportion for the:

purpose; of. 1naking;the; sole more flexible in this portionthan it. otherwisewould 5be.- To. this end: the patented machine eomprisesaixed worlfi support, a reciprocat'mg; slashing its knife; a worltolamping; roll and a feed roll tooperationuponithe' soleaby' theknife;

In ordentoadapt.a-machineof this type for. operationupon ribbediinsoles such, for-exam ple; asE oonomy ins'oleswithout flattening, out or inj-uring the sewingrihandiin accordance 9:5 with one: feature of-zrthe present invention, the

illustrated: machine comprises aroll 0011- structed and arranged to-have peripheral en-v gagement with the face at the ribbed sides of a sole: between oppositely disposed: portions soleza-nd oo operating :with the: roll tov feedthe solerinto position; to be op'erated upon.

In the-illustrated machine; the-rol ls for err-- gx ingtheribbedisideotthe sole inside ofthe 35. rib :islocated; in 1 front of! therslashing knife midis-arranged to turmidlytaco-operate. with a positively driven feed roll arranged to' 'enr. gagethe u-nr'ibbe'd side of the sole. Inaccordance-withthe.present invention the idle; roll,

hereinatten referred to asthework olamping roll, is=made short enough toengage the; 1n-v sole. between-the portions otthe sewing rib at: the opposite-lateral margins Qf'tlle narrowest. portions 0t the sole, that is, along. the

4; shankeof the sole;and-furthermore; this roll is mounted with provision. for endwise movementand itis engaged by a springarranged normallytohold the rol-lin a central-position While permitting it .to yield: endwise or axially in, either direction as may be neoe'ss ary; in order for the roll to accommodate :itseltto the space between the 'oppositely. disposed portions-of; the :rib .in the-shank? portions .of soles having, difi'erent degrees, of? swing v Moreover, asillustrated, the bending; roll is alsomade-short enough to insure:its engagement between the-opposedportions ot the. rib so that it willperform. its bending; operation without havin g1 any tendency, to flatten out? or injure therib. I 1 I V The invention will: bQ-QXPlEl-llld: with ref. erence to. the accompanying. drawings, in which I Fig; 1. is. averti'cal seotional-lview'ot' so. much of: an. insole slashing; machine as is necessary to.- illustrate. the. application.- of: the present.inventi0n.thereto:;; I

Fig. 2is a-. perspective1VieW'0fthe slashing; teed'ing and bending, instrumentalities of the. machine, illustrating theirmode-Lofoperation upon aribbed :insoleof the Economy'type;

Fig, .3 is-a1 view front. elevation of the parts ofthe machine shown inFig: 1; .-and- Fig Lis-a plan view. ofaribbedinsoleofthe Economy tyzpefillustrating conventionally the relation .to the sole of thework elamping and hending rolls.v i a The invention. is- ShfOWIliiH the drawings-as embodied in an? insole slashing maehine like that di'sclosediin Letters-Patent No. 958 G29 hereinbeforereterredtor. Tlieillustratedmachine, in common with. thepatented machine, comprises a l1ead=frame-10-, a vertieallygreciprooating cross head 12:,aworlt rest-Idiorthe portion of the workebeing operated upon-by thelrnife, a drivenloxver feedroll-lS-carried by asWinging; feed -rollztrame 20, a worlei olampinggroll 22 .carriedbya frame 24 pivot ed'to the feed roll frame-QQ'and-a deflecting or bending roll. 26 carried by a: swinging fr-ame 28i Except in: particulars-heneinatter described the above-named parts; together w ththe r, actuating: mechanism and all other parts-illustrated 1n the drawings and nothereinafienspecificallyreferred? to,,have substantially thes ame construction, arrangement and. mode of operationv asthat ot oorresponding parts in the machine 031"? the patent above referred to and reference may be had to-suohpatent. for details-of.construction and operation not herein specifically described. To assist in understanding the present invention, however, it is herein stated that the workclamping frame 24 is in the form of a yoke the arms 30 of which are pivoted at 32 to the swinging feed roll frame 20 so that the clamping roll 22 may be moved away from the feed roll 18 to facilitateintroduction of the work into the machine, the clamping roll frame 24 being normally held in position for the clamp-- ing roll 22 to co-operate with the feed roll 18 by means of a spring 34. It should furthermore be understood that the bending roll frame 28 is also in the form of a yoke the arms 36 of which are adapted to support a work bending roll 26.

In the machine shown in the drawings, in order to insure that the work-clamping roll 22 and the work bending roll 26 shall perform their respective functions without flattening or otherwise injuring any portion of the sew ing rib of an insole these rolls are constructed and mounted as will now be described.

The work-clamping roll 22 is made of such width as to engage the ribbed surface of an insole like that shown at S in the drawings without overlapping or engaging the oppositely disposed portions of the sewing rib at the lateral margins of the sole even at the shank portion where the sole is of minimum width and where the opposed portions of the sewing rib are relatively close together. The length of the clamping roll 22 relatively to the width of the sole between the opposed portions of the sewing rib is best shown in Fig. 4 upon an inspection of which it will be apparent that the roll 22 will freely engage between the opposed portions 7', 1' of the rib R at the shank'of the sole without overlying the rib at either edge of the sole so as to have any tendency to flatten or injure the. rib. To facilitate effective feeding of the sole, however, the roll 22, as herein shown,'is made of a width substantially equal to the space between the oppositely disposed portions of the sewing rib at the narrowest portion of the shank of the sole. As shown, the workclamping roll 22 is mounted to turn idly upon a rod 40 which is fixedly secured at its ends in the arms 30 of the clamping roll frame 24.

In most insoles, the center line of the forepart of the solegis disposed at more or less of an angle to or is laterally offset from, the center line of the heel portion of the sole, this angular or offset disposition of the forepart and heel part being customarily referred to as the swing of the sole; To insurethat the soles shall flex or bend in the required manner after being slashed it is desirable that the slashes shall be made parallel to one another and that they shall extend across the sole substantially at right angles to the center line of the forepart. It is. desirable, therefore, that the sole shall be introduced into theslashmg machine with the center line of the forepart of the sole'at right angles to the blade of the slashing knife and to the axis of the workclamping and bending rolls and that the insole shall be fed through the machine in a direction at right angles to the blade of the it will be apparent that while the work-clamping roll 22 is short enough to avoid engagement with the portions of the rib at the opposite edges of the sole at the start of the slashing operation when the said roll is located as shown in Fig. 4 near the ball portion of the sole, and while the roll is capable also of engaging between the ribs at the narrowest portion of the shank, nevertheless, if there is any appreciable amount of swing to the sole, the central portions of the shank and forepart will be out of line with each other and the shank will be offset relatively to the clamping roll. Accordingly, as the sole is being fed in the general direction of the center line of its forepart the rib at one side or the other of the shank will be engaged by the end of the roll 22 as the sole continues its forward movement through the machine.

In order to insure that the roll 22 will not ride over the portion of the rib engaged thereby with consequent danger of flattening or injuring it, the roll 22, as herein shown, is mountedwith provision for endwise movement upon the rod 40. As shown, the roll 22 is normally maintained yieldingly in a central position upon the rod 40 by means of a leaf spring 50 secured at its upper end by screws 52 to a fixed portion 54 of the head frame 10 and the lower end of which engages within an annular groove 56 in the pe riphery of the clamping roll 22, the spring 50 being arranged to yield sidewise so as to permit endwise sliding movement of the roll on the rod 40. By thus mounting the roll'22 so that it is capable of sliding in either direction upon the rod 40, the roll is rendered capable of accommodating itself to the space between the portions of the rib at the opposite edges of the narrow shank portion of the sole irrespective of the degree of swing of the sole or the amount of offset of the shank portion of the sole.

To provide for sufficient bearing between the spring 50 and the sides of the slot 56 in the roll 22 there is formed in the lower end of the spring a segmental notch 58 shaped to conform to the-curvature of the bottom ofthe slot in the roll. In order that the roll 22 maybe readily moved toward and from the lower feed roll 18 as the frame 24 is swung about its pivotal connections with the frame 36 the spring 50 is constructed and arranged to yield readily in directions at right angles to the axis of the roll 22 as well as in directions parallel to the axis of ther0ll,thisconstruction Do this end, the illustrated spring fiflis twists 7 ed Eas indicated at 60th provideein 11131381 pore exhibiting the ring; toyieldforw saafidliyias- 1e qui-red by upwardlm 'oaieinenit of the vrolil tion 623 disposed-transversely attrightangl'es to bheele wer portion; of the spring, 'whzicli pore tioiu62iszeapahlei o-f henitliirg. to permit the is quoted \t orwaazdyiielding' ofthe spring; hen a :sole is-=heing operatedmport the r'ollz22 'occnp'iiesithe .positionshowvninlwiththo curved bottom of the :slzot 56Y1ocated? in the notched lower extremity otthei spring-50.: It Willloe' n'ot'ed thnt Whilethe ho'bto'mio fa the slot ih-tlie I'Oll; 22 moves oiutef-zaipesition which it conforms to tl ie eii-rve of the segmental notch 581the lowerextrelnity o-if thespringiQ-KQ ncveethele'ss remains-*errgaged; between the side Walls of the-slot i'ntthe; roll- 22 so that the-roll is'at all times "maintained? underthe i-nfiiizieneex of f theispring. 1

The rillhstreted--worl bending roll 26- is also made of the some: l'eiri-gthes the Work-- clamping :1; 011%22 to-insure-eengagement oiithe Work flaendiirg 'nolzlhe ween=hhe- =0p136seclpor ti-oiis oitlife rih'R 1e Bending-1 0M 26 being lirouhted to tm-11m11y o en ;a nod 42 Whieh is fixedly secured; at its opposite-1ehdste the ar=n1s36 =o fthes=bendingj relief-11am 2S3 The bendingrolil 216- is -m*aimthindda pn'edetermined: position upon the rod-40 103 means: of

speeimg sleei es iege-see the-rod: til-one at either-sideot the -roll 26. i r I WVhen-a-sole is to he- 'insertedin them :achine the clamping roll '22 and; lthe'ben-dizng: rolli 26 eaeh'occupies sesitionsziniwhiohz the rolls are separated fromst-helow-err feed noll l8--and from-the Workrest16,-nes1isctiveiy, by dis-T greaten th an the -thick.-

tances suhstanti'all ness of the sole to be operated upon, the rolls hailing" tees moved: into these" positions the slashing hniifie theesole'is fed forwardly step-by step, the 'ihechirre beingtiin red so that each slash is made during a pel riodi e f restbetween' successive 'irncr'emerrts:of teed movement; In operating 'upon an insole in which there is any substantial -an1ou11jt' of swing or edgewise offset of the forepertrel'a tively to thehe'el and shank )orti:0ns the sole is he d through *themachine in a direction pfli'l'iellfi'l to the center line of 'tliei orepart of these-1e Gense'qnently the-center. linerof the 'nortion; ot the sole. heen ntade the operation of the machine u n-' heel landcshenk :portionsofithe sole is inclined or oflset with respect to the'direction of feed because the .swing'of 'thesolfc and. the per tilons ofithie rill) L which extend along opposite sides of the shank are also inclined with respe'et to thedinection ofi feed; It Will lie rapv.parien;t, therefore, that asthe'sole advances tl-u'oirgh the machine the. inner side of the ni bone side ofthe shi mkis liable eventnals to b'e brought into engagement with the adj acent end ts-cs of the clamping rol-lf It will also be apparent that th'e'lengthwvise in clination of the portion of the rih engaging the clampingrdl l Wi ll be such that the rib will exert a: cmn action onthe roll, causing the roll' to slide onthe rod 40 in a direction: 7

Y P-Om the rib so that'th'e roll will automatical ly accommodate itself to the space hetween'the ribs at the-shank of the sole, the

roll: keeping Within this space so that it will not ride over the rib and consequently will not flatten or otherwise injure it; Obvious ly, if there is n'o-swing 'o'r'edg-ew-ise offset to the-sole Wh-icl-r is being operated upon, the short clanming roll 22 Wi'll ride between the (9'01l5i01'1SLOf the rib at opposite sides of the shanlewithou thav-ing to be displaced en dwi se from its normal positioninasmnch as the roll is normelly held in a central position inline with thebending roll 26;

As hereinbefore mentioned, the slashes do no ordimir-i ly extend rearwardly of the ball After the last slash has der power is automatically stepped, Whereupon the operator separates the clamping sell 22 and"theb'ending roll2'6 from the feed roll 18 and from the Work rest 16, respectively, and remeves the sole fromthe machine hy amevernenttewardthe operator, in' other Word's-beck-ing the sole out oft-he machine;

It will' beapparent, therefore, that the HLT- row shankfportion of the sole is never moved into engagement with the bending r01 26 which is-located forwardly of the slashing knife: and inasmuch as" the portion of the sole forwardly of the shank is of sufiicient width sot'hat thereis no danger of the portions of'the rib engaging the short bending roll-Z6 it 'is-nnnecessary to I provide for end- Wise movement of" the bending roll on its slipp'or'tin-gr'oddfi inorder to insure against danger of injury to the rib hythebending roll.

-Haw'iI-rg described my invention, What I,

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent oftheITnite-d' States-- is:

1. Iii a machine fore aeratin ue'on ribbed i soles, in combination, operating instrumentality, and means for teed-mg a; sole-to the 'oaeratin instrumentali't com arisina 1 roliicons'tr-ueted and arr a nge alto h'ave peripheral e-ngageinen-twith the face at the ribbed side of the sole between oppositely disposed; portions only-of the rib, said roll being-0f substantially the "same width as the space be tween said oppositely disposed portions of soles, in combination, a roll constructed and,

arranged to have peripheral engagement with the face at the ribbed side of asole between oppositely disposed portions. only of the rib,

and means for supporting the sole and cooperating with said roll to feed the sole into position to be operated upon.

3. In a machine for operating upon ribbed soles, in combination, a rollconstructed and arranged to engage the'ribbed face of a sole, between oppositely disposed portions of the 'rrib, and a mounting for the roll enabling it to adyust itself axially to accommodate ltself to the spaces between oppositely disposed portionsof the ribs of soles having different degrees of swing. I 7

4. I11 a machine for slashing ribbed soles, in combination, a slashing knife, and means for feeding a sole to the knife comprising a roll constructed and arranged to engage the ribbed side of the sole inside of the rib only whereby the sole may be fed without danger of injury to the rib.'

5. In a machine for slashing ribbed soles, in combination, a slashing knife, and means for feeding a sole to the knife comprising a roll constructed and arranged to engage the ribbed side of the sole along the shank without engaging the ribs, said roll being adjustable axially to adapt it for-use in connection with soles having different degrees of swing,

6. In a machine for slashing ribbed soles, in combination, a slashing knife, and means for feeding a sole to the knife comprising a rollconstructed and arranged to engage the ribbed side of the sole along the shank without engaging the ribs, said roll being mounted for endwisemovement enabling it to accommodate itself to the spaces between the. ribs at the shank portions of soles having different degrees of swing. l 7 In a machine for slashing ribbed soles, in combination, a slashing knife, a rollconstructed and arranged to engage the ribbed side of a'sole between the ribs only, and a feed roll for engaging the unribbed side of a sole to feed the sole to the knife.

7 8. In a machine for slashing ribbed soles, in combination, a slashing knife, a driven feed roll for engaging the unribbed side of a sole, and an idlerollfor engaging the'ribbed side of the solejand co-operating withthe driven roll to feed the sole to the knife, the idle-roll being short enough to engage the sole between the ribs only, and a mounting for the idle roll enabling it to adjust itself axially to accommodate soles having different degrees of swing. V p

9. In a machine for slashing ribbed soles,

in combination. a slashing knife, a feed roll for engaging the unribbed side of a sole, a second roll constructed and arranged to engage the ribbed side ofthe sole between the ribs only and to co-operate with the first roll to feed the sole .to the knife, the second roll being capable of endwise adjustment to accommodate itself to the spaces between the ribs of soles having different degrees of swing, and yielding means normally effective tohold the roll in a predetermined endwise relation to the first roll.

10. In a machine "for slashing ribbed soles,

in combination, aslashing knife, a feed roll for engagingthe unribbed side of a sole, a rod extendingparallel tothe feed roll, a tubular rollmounted to turn on the rod and shaped to engage the ribbed side of the sole between the-ribs only, said roll being capable of moving endwise on the rod to accommodate itself to the spacesbetweenl the ribs of soles having different degrees of swing, and yielding means tending to hold the tubularroll in a central position on the rod. 7 11. In a machine for slashing ribbed soles, in combination. a slashing knife, a feed roll for engaging the unribbed side of a sole, a second roll'constructed and arranged to engage the ribbed side of a sole between the ribs only and to co-operate with the first roll to feed the sole to the knife, said roll being capable of endwise movement enabling it to accommodate 'itself to spaces between the ribs in soles having different degrees of swing. and a spring arranged to be stressed by endwise movement ofthe roll in either direction for holding the roll normally in a preldetermined endwise relation to the first r0] E 12. In a machine for slashing ribbed soles, in combination, a slashing knife. means for feeding a sole to the knife comprising a feed roll constructed and arranged to engage the ribbed side of a sole between the ribs only, said roll being capable of endwise movement to accommodate itself to soles having different degrees. of swing and having an annular groove in its periphery, and a leaf spring Droieoting into the groove in the feed roll for holding the roll yieldinglyin a predetermined position of endwise adjustment.

13. In a machine for slashing ribbed soles, in combination, a slashing knife, means for feeding a sole to the knife comprising a short feed roll adapted to engage the'ribbed side of a sole between the ribs only, and a second short roll also arranged to engage the ribbed side of the-sole only betweenthe ribs for flexing the sole preparatory to operation thereon by the slashing knife.

14. In a machine for slashing ribbedsoles; in combination, a slashing knife, a support for the sole while it is being slashed, means for feeding the sole past the knife compris- CARL J. MEEK. 

